2017 Grand Prix of Indianapolis
The 2017 IndyCar Grand Prix took place at the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 13, 2017. It will clash with the grand final of the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest in Kiev, Ukraine. It was extended to 85 laps, from 82 the previous year. The race is a two day weekend for IndyCar, and a three for series out of the bigger IndyCar Series. Pre-race The Eurovision Song Contest semifinals were held in Ukraine. Semifinal 1 Surprisingly, Azerbaijan, a country predicted by many not to go to the grand final because of the song Skeletons and the lyrics in the songs, qualified for the final. Ueli Kestenholz is the biggest shocker of that semifinal, failing to qualify, along with Scolipede, Machamp and Slaking. Semifinal 2 Originally Pee Saderd was supposed to perform, but Russia withdrew, allowing him to watch his country's original semifinal on the sidelines. Dragonite qualified Croatia to the final. The shock of that semifinal are the failures of qualification to the final for Volcarona and Skorupi. Drivers ;Chevrolet * Hélio Castroneves * Simon Pagenaud * Will Power * Josef Newgarden * Conor Daly * Carlos Muñoz * Spencer Pigot * JR Hildebrand * Juan Pablo Montoya ;Honda * Takuma Sato * Marco Andretti * Ryan Hunter-Reay * Alexander Rossi * Max Chilton * Scott Dixon * Tony Kanaan * Charlie Kimball * Sébastien Bourdais * Ed Jones * Graham Rahal * James Hinchcliffe * Mikhail Aleshin IndyCar Practice 1 Will Power topped the practice charts. Allen Ford and Pee Saderd struggled, both a second down to Power. Results:Practice 1 results Practice 2 Will Power topped the charts again. Metagross wrecked the Team Penske hopes of a 1-2-3-4 in the practice session, finishing 4th for car 98 of Andretti Autosport. Red flags happened, as Ryan Hunter-Reay's car slowed down on track with 10 minutes remaining in the session. Mario Lopez caused a red flag and the session ended shortly after. Only seven drivers finished less than a second behind Power. Again, Pee Saderd nor Allen Ford can show potential luck to Power, again finishing at least 1 second behind the Aussie. Captains Pee Saderd, Jonathan Bald and Mario Lopez were two seconds behind Power, and Saderd's miserable Indy GP weekend continues. Jacqueline Bigar was inaccurate on Will Power and Pee Saderd, as Power got a 3 and Saderd got a 5. At the end of the session, Power traded Saderd's 5 star day since he is topping the practices; and Saderd swapped with Power since the Russian musician is struggling through the weekend. Results:Practice 2 Results Pit Stop Practice Qualifying Seeds BATC opted to use the seedings from the 2016 Swiss Open, since Montoya is racing in the event. Simon Pagenaud (Fast 12) Will Power (Pole Winner) Hélio Castroneves (Qualified) Dragonite (Qualified) Graham Rahal (First round) Scott Dixon (Qualified) Larvesta (Fast 12) Juan Pablo Montoya (Qualified) Garbiñe Muguruza (First round) Mario Lopez (First round) Metagross (Fast 12) Ryan Hunter-Reay (Fast 12) Pamela Anderson (Fast 12) Olga Fatkulina (Qualified) Joey Fatone (First round) Pee Saderd (Fast 12) Apolo Anton Ohno (First round) Allen Ford (First round) Chespin (First round) Magearna (First round) Pidgeot (First round) Jonathan Bald (First round) Group 1 Dragonite, Simon Pagenaud, Metagross, Pee Saderd, Larvesta and Pamela Anderson advances to the next round. Jonathan Bald, Allen Ford, Joey Fatone, Garbine Muguruza and Pidgeot fail to qualify to the next round. Group 2 Will Power, Helio Castroneves, Olga Fatkulina, Scott Dixon, Juan Pablo Montoya and Ryan Hunter-Reay advances to the next round. Chespin, Magearna, Mario Lopez, Graham Rahal and Apolo Anton Ohno fail to qualify to the next round. Fast 12 Will Power, Juan Pablo Montoya, Helio Castroneves, Dragonite, Scott Dixon and Olga Fatkulina '''advance to the Fast Six. '''Simon Pagenaud, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Metagross, Pamela Anderson, Pee Saderd and Larvesta '''fail to qualify to the Fast Six. Fast 6 Pole challengers: * Will Power''' * Juan Pablo Montoya * Hélio Castroneves * Dragonite * Scott Dixon * Olga Fatkulina Will Power won the pole, beating his other Penskes expect Pagenaud that missed out on the fast six including Dixon and Fatkulina. Practice Final Starting Grid Race Will Power leads the race. In the beginning of the race, Tony Kanaan pitted on the first lap with mechanical issues as the season; Pee Saderd was given a penalty for avoidable contact with the pre-evolution of Volcarona, Larvesta, and Olga Fatkulina dropped out due to issues on Bourdais' car. After Marco Andretti got his penalty, Saderd wasn't happy and decided he would take off his kerchief for the rest of the race but keep the sports glasses on (Note: Saderd uses sports glasses while playing sports due to his poor eyesight). However, after the penalty, the crewmen of Marco Andretti were shocked that Andretti has to drive through the pit lane before entering the race again. After drivers pitted, the lead was originally Will Power but Hélio Castroneves passed him on lap 24. It was still green as of lap 25, which was better than Phoenix because Phoenix didn't have green flag until lap 22. The Czech Republic, despite failing to qualify for the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest big final, was out of the race easily with issues around Kimball's car with Garbiñe Muguruza being their coach. Hélio Castroneves continued to lead the race, but fellow Math Open semifinalist Ueli Kestenholz was out of the race with issues on their car. On lap 41, drivers began pitting for fuel and also a second set of pit stops began. Hélio Castroneves pitted on lap 44 but however his teammate Will Power took the lead from him on lap 45 after the set of pit stops. After the second set of pit stops, Pee Saderd said he decided to wear his kerchief he took off earlier in the race when Marco Andretti got a penalty by IndyCar and remain it for the rest of the race. At least the first half of the race went without even a single caution flag. The final stops of pits saw Will Power take the lead again from his teammate Castroneves. Two drive through penalties happen, one for Joey Fatone and one for Dragonite. Hélio Castroneves began slowing in the last laps, from 1st, down to 2nd, down to 3rd after Dixon passed him and now 4th after Ryan Hunter-Reay passed him, and 5th since Simon Pagenaud passed him. Will Power won the race in which it went even without a single caution flag. Trivia Category:IndyCar Category:2017 in sports Category:2017 in the United States